Consul on AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS) Configuration Reference

This pages details the configuration options for the JSON config format used by the consul-ecs binary. This configuration is passed to the consul-ecs binary as a string using the CONSUL_ECS_CONFIG_JSON environment variable.

This configuration format follows a JSON schema that can be used for validation.

Terraform Mesh Task Module Configuration

The mesh-task Terraform module provides input variables for commonly used fields. The following table shows which Terraform input variables correspond to each field of the Consul ECS configuration. Refer to the Terraform registry documentation for a complete reference of supported input variables for the mesh-task module.

Terraform Input VariableConsul ECS Config Field
upstreamsproxy.upstreams
checksservice.checks
consul_service_nameservice.name
consul_service_tagsservice.tags
consul_service_metaservice.meta
consul_namespaceservice.namespace
consul_partitionservice.partition

Each of these Terraform input variables follow the Consul ECS config schema. The remaining fields of the Consul ECS configuration not listed in this table can be passed using the consul_ecs_config input variable.

Top-level fields

These are the top-level fields for the Consul ECS configuration format.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
bootstrapDirstringrequiredThe directory at which to mount the shared volume where Envoy bootstrap configuration is written by consul-ecs mesh-init.
consulCACertFilestringoptionalThe file path of the Consul server CA certificate.
consulHTTPAddrstringoptionalThe HTTP(S) URL of the Consul server. Required when authMethod.enabled is set
consulLoginobjectoptionalConfiguration for logging into the AWS IAM auth method.
gatewayobjectoptionalConfiguration for the gateway proxy registration.
healthSyncContainersarrayoptionalThe names of containers that will have health check status synced from ECS into Consul. Cannot be specified with service.checks.
logLevelstringoptionalSets the log level for the consul-ecs mesh-init and consul-ecs health-sync commands. Defaults to INFO. Must be one of TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, or null.
proxyobjectoptionalConfiguration for the sidecar proxy registration with Consul.
serviceobjectoptionalConfiguration for Consul service registration.

consulLogin

Configuration for logging into the AWS IAM auth method.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
enabledbooleanoptionalEnables logging into Consul’s AWS IAM auth method to obtain an ACL token. The auth method must be configured on the Consul server and the ECS task role must be trusted by the auth method. After logging in, the token is written to the file <bootstrapDir>/service-token.
extraLoginFlagsarrayoptionalAdditional CLI flags to pass to the consul login command. These are appended to the command consul login -type aws -method <name> -token-sink-file <file> -aws-auto-bearer-token -aws-include-identity.
includeEntitybooleanoptionalAdds the -aws-include-entity flag to the consul login command. Defaults to true. Set to false to remove the flag from the command. The -aws-include-entity flag should only be passed if the Consul AWS IAM auth method is configured with EnableIAMEntityDetails=true.
methodstringoptionalThe name of Consul auth method. This is passed as the -method option to the consul login command. Defaults to iam-ecs-service-token.

gateway

Configuration for the gateway proxy registration.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
kindstringrequiredSpecifies the type of gateway to register. Must be mesh-gateway.
lanAddressobjectoptionalLAN address and port for the gateway. If not specified, defaults to the task/node address.
metaobjectoptionalKey-value pairs of metadata to include for the gateway.
namestringoptionalThe name the gateway will be registered as in Consul. Defaults to the Task family name.
namespacestringoptionalEnterprise Consul namespace in which the gateway will be registered.
partitionstringoptionalEnterprise Consul admin partition in which the gateway will be registered.
proxyobjectoptionalObject that contains the proxy parameters.
tagsarrayoptionalList of string values that can be used to add labels to the gateway.
wanAddressobjectoptionalWAN address and port for the gateway. If not specified, defaults to the task/node address.

gateway.lanAddress

LAN address and port for the gateway. If not specified, defaults to the task/node address.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
addressstringoptional
portintegeroptional

gateway.proxy

Object that contains the proxy parameters.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
configobjectoptional

gateway.wanAddress

WAN address and port for the gateway. If not specified, defaults to the task/node address.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
addressstringoptional
portintegeroptional

proxy

Configuration for the sidecar proxy registration with Consul.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
configobjectoptionalObject value that specifies an opaque JSON configuration. The JSON is stored and returned along with the service instance when called from the API.
meshGatewayobjectoptionalSpecifies the mesh gateway configuration for the proxy.
upstreamsarrayoptionalThe list of the upstream services that the proxy should create listeners for.

proxy.meshGateway

Specifies the mesh gateway configuration for the proxy.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
modestringrequiredSpecifies how upstreams with a remote destination datacenter are resolved. Must be one of none, local, or remote.

proxy.upstreams

The list of the upstream services that the proxy should create listeners for. Each upstream object may contain the following fields.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
configobjectoptionalSpecifies opaque configuration options that will be provided to the proxy instance for the upstream.
datacenterstringoptionalSpecifies the datacenter to issue the discovery query to.
destinationNamestringrequiredSpecifies the name of the upstream service or prepared query to route the service mesh to.
destinationNamespacestringoptionalEnterprise Specifies the namespace containing the upstream service.
destinationPartitionstringoptionalEnterprise Specifies the name of the admin partition containing the upstream service.
destinationTypestringoptionalSpecifies the type of discovery query the proxy should use for finding service mesh instances. Must be one of service, prepared_query, or null.
localBindAddressstringoptionalSpecifies the address to bind a local listener to.
localBindPortintegerrequiredSpecifies the port to bind a local listener to. The application will make outbound connections to the upstream from the local port.
meshGatewayobjectoptionalSpecifies the mesh gateway configuration for the proxy for this upstream.

proxy.upstreams.meshGateway

Specifies the mesh gateway configuration for the proxy for this upstream.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
modestringrequiredSpecifies how the upstream with a remote destination datacenter gets resolved. Must be one of none, local, or remote.

service

Configuration for Consul service registration.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
checksarrayoptionalThe list of Consul checks for the service. Cannot be specified with healthSyncContainers.
enableTagOverridebooleanoptionalDetermines if the anti-entropy feature for the service is enabled
metaobjectoptionalKey-value pairs of metadata to include for the Consul service.
namestringoptionalThe name the service will be registered as in Consul. Defaults to the Task family name if empty or null.
namespacestringoptionalEnterprise The Consul namespace where the service will be registered.
partitionstringoptionalEnterprise The Consul admin partition where the service will be registered.
portintegerrequiredPort the application listens on, if any.
tagsarrayoptionalList of string values that can be used to add service-level labels.
weightsobjectoptionalConfigures the weight of the service in terms of its DNS service (SRV) response.

service.checks

Defines the Consul checks for the service. Each check object may contain the following fields.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
aliasNodestringoptionalSpecifies the ID of the node for an alias check.
aliasServicestringoptionalSpecifies the ID of a service for an alias check.
argsarrayoptionalCommand arguments to run to update the status of the check.
bodystringoptionalSpecifies a body that should be sent with HTTP checks.
checkIdstringoptionalThe unique ID for this check on the node. Defaults to the check name.
failuresBeforeCriticalintegeroptionalSpecifies the number of consecutive unsuccessful results required before check status transitions to critical.
grpcstringoptionalSpecifies a gRPC check. Must be an endpoint that supports the standard gRPC health checking protocol. The endpoint will be probed every interval.
grpcUseTlsbooleanoptionalSpecifies whether to use TLS for this gRPC health check.
h2pingstringoptionalSpecifies this is an h2ping check. Must be an address, which will be pinged every interval.
h2pingUseTlsbooleanoptionalSpecifies whether TLS is used for an h2ping check.
headerobjectoptionalSpecifies a set of headers that should be set for HTTP checks. Each header can have multiple values.
httpstringoptionalSpecifies this is an HTTP check. Must be a URL against which request is performed every interval.
intervalstringoptionalSpecifies the frequency at which to run this check. Required for HTTP, TCP, and UDP checks.
methodstringoptionalSpecifies the HTTP method to be used for an HTTP check. When no value is specified, GET is used.
namestringoptionalThe name of the check.
notesstringoptionalSpecifies arbitrary information for humans. This is not used by Consul internally.
os_servicestringoptionalSpecifies the name of a service on which to perform an OS service check. The check runs according the frequency specified in the interval parameter.
statusstringoptionalSpecifies the initial status the health check. Must be one of passing, warning, critical, maintenance, or null.
successBeforePassingintegeroptionalSpecifies the number of consecutive successful results required before check status transitions to passing.
tcpstringoptionalSpecifies this is a TCP check. Must be an IP/hostname plus port to which a TCP connection is made every interval.
timeoutstringoptionalSpecifies a timeout for outgoing connections. Applies to script, HTTP, TCP, UDP, and gRPC checks. Must be a duration string, such as 10s or 5m.
tlsServerNamestringoptionalSpecifies an optional string used to set the SNI host when connecting via TLS.
tlsSkipVerifybooleanoptionalSpecifies if the certificate for an HTTPS check should not be verified.
ttlstringoptionalSpecifies this is a TTL check. Must be a duration string, such as 10s or 5m.
udpstringoptionalSpecifies this is a UDP check. Must be an IP/hostname plus port to which UDP datagrams are sent every interval.

service.weights

Configures the weight of the service in terms of its DNS service (SRV) response.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
passingintegerrequiredWeight for the service when its health checks are passing.
warningintegerrequiredWeight for the service when it has health checks in warning status.